For velocipedes



(No Model.) 3 Sheets-'-Sheet 1.

J. W. SUNDERL GEARING FOR VELOGI]? S.

No; 605,933. Patented June 21,1898.

na'erla/mi 3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

Inveni'a 7'.

Patented June 21; 1898..

J W SUNDERLAND GEARING FOR VELOGIPEDES.

Minefi'd'ed.

(No Model.)

(No Model.)

3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

J. W. SUNDERLAND. GEARING FOR VELOGIPEDES.

Patented June 21; 1898.

hwen i6 7';

Jesse Sunder/anal- JESSE XV. SUNDERLAND, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO I ANDREWV J. MODUFFEE, OF SAME PLACE.

GEARING FOR VELOCIPEDES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 605,933, dated June 21, 1898.

Application filed February 26, 1897. Serial No. 625,119. (No model.)

To aZZ whom z't mcty concern.-

Be it known that I, JEssE W. SUNDERLAND, a citizen of the United States, residing at Ohicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Gearing for Velocipedes, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to an improvement in gearing for velocipedes of the chainless type, and has for its object more especially the provision of such a gearing for tandem bicycles and similar foot-propelled machines wherethe force exerted by several riders is to be transmitted to the drive-wheel.

The invention is applicable also with great advantage to ordinary single bicycles which are provided with crank-hangers, it being possible to substitute the improved gearing herein described for ordinary chain-gearing at a very small cost.

The invention, broadly stated, involves the use of pinions rigid-with the drive-wheel shaft, planet-gears in mesh therewith and preferably rigidly attached to connecting-rods which are given a reciprocatory motion by cranks, and improved ineans for maintaining the gears and pinions in .proper relationship to each other during the revolution of the former about the latter, as well as improved connections between the planet-gears and the cranks.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents in side elevation a tandem bicycle equipped with my improvedgearing; Fig. 2, a broken view, partly in section, of the pinions and attendant parts attached to the rearwheel shaft; Fig. 3, a broken sectional view of a separable journal-box with which the rear forks are provided; Fig. 4., a broken partly-sectional plan view of the frame and gearing; Fig. 5, a broken sectional View of the rear crank-hanger, cranks, and connecting-rodjournal-boxes thereon; and Fig. 6, a broken view, in side elevation, of the connecting-rod j ournal-box and the attached connecting-rods; v H

A is a bicycle-frame, the rear forks A A of which are provided with j ournal-boxes B, having, preferably, a removable section B. (See Fig. 3.)

O is the drive-wheel, the hub O of which affords'a shaft through the medium of which the wheel is driven. The hub and shaft 0 are preferably of the barrel shape shown and are provided at bothjends with a number of sections of successively-reduced diameters threaded to receive the wheel-bearing cones r r, housing-bearing cones p, pinions D, and at the extreme ends housing-bearin g cones n.

The cones r and p are provided with wrench- 6o 7 holes r 19 The journal-boxes B of the rear forks are provided with outer race members m. r

' Mounted upon ball-bearings p n, resting on the cones p and n', are links or housings E, each comprising, preferably, a box E and alidor cover E provided with lugsl (see Fig. 1) for securing them together. The box portion E is provided with ball-bearing cones j and it and the lid portion E with cones g and f. The cones f and j coact with the cones n and 19, respectively, on the wheel-shaft, while the cones k and g coact' with bearings k and g, respectively, on a planetgear F, confined within the housing and meshing with the pinion D. Rigidly attached to the gear F by means of a screw 6 and dowel-pins e is a plate or forging Gr,'offset or curved inwardly at its forward end for proper alinement, as shown. As thus described, the part E constitutes in effect a closed housingprovided on its inner side with a shaft-opening and on its outer side with a gear-hub opening. At these openings the housing is equipped with race members, and directly opposite the openings on the inner surfaces or the opposite plates are fixed the corresponding race members of the second ball-bearin g pairs provided. Thus is afforded adust-proof bearing neat in appearance and effective in operation. 0 The forward end of the forging is provided with threaded sockets to receive connectingrods H, secured rigidly, in place by jam-nuts H. The connecting-rods H are provided at opposite ends with oppositely-turned threads and are rigidly secured at their front ends to j ournal-boxes I, mounted upon cranks J, carried by the pedal-arms or formed integral with said arms by bending them between their ends to form proper offsets. This connection allows for the adjustment. of thetension inthe connecting-rods by simply turning them in the proper direction. The journal-box I is internally threaded to receive ball-bearing cones I, which coact with inner race members 1 which are forced onto the cranks J. The journalbox is split, preferably at its lower side, where it is provided with lugs I, perforated to receive bolts 1 After the cones I have been properly adjusted with reference to the balls I they are readily and effectually locked in placeby means of the bolts 1 The pedal-shaft K is provided with any suitable ball-bearing. To the front half of the journal-box I are secured connecting-rods L, sup-. plied at their ends with right and left handed threads and joined to. similar journal-boxes on the cranks carried by the next preceding pedal-shaft.

As shown in the drawings, the cranks J are carried by crank-arms J and in turn carry the pedal-arms J These pedal-arms should be'set at an angle of about ninety degrees to the crank-arms, as shown in Fig. 1, and, likewise, the gears should be so relationed with respect to the pinions that lines joining the centers of each set (pinion and gear) shall meet at an angle of about ninety degrees. The purpose of the former arrangement is to provide that the foot shall pass through the most efficient are of application of power while the planet-gear is passing through its most efficient are. The purpose of the latter arrangement is of course to avoid a possibility of a dead-center.

The operation is as follows: Power is applied to the pedals and transmitted through the cranks and connecting-rods to the planetgears rigidly attached to the rear connectingrods. This causes the housings E to rotate about the drive-wheel shaft, and since the planet-gears during this movement are maintained in rigid relation to the connectingrods it is plain that the pinions are caused to revolve, and at a speed depending upon the ratio which the diameters of the gears and pinions bear to each other.

It will be understood that with the gearing on both sides the wheel the connecting-rods may be made of small cross-section, since a tensile power mainly is depended upon in the propulsion. Not only is this accomplished, but it will be understood readily that with the double gearing the wheel is better balanced, and this is true especially in view of the fact that the gears and pinions are set at an angle of ninety degrees, which causes the torsional effect upon the drive-wheel shaft produced by one set of connecting-rods to be neutralized by the force exerted through the rods upon the opposite side.

It should be stated that the matter of providing offsets in the forgings G is of prime importance in this construction, since not only does it obviate torsional strains by preserving the alinement and providing for the movement of the connecting-rods with relation to the housings, but also brings the connectingrod s closer to the frame at the cranks, thus getting them out of the way of the feet and clothing of the rider without unduly lengthening the lateral distance between pedals.

An important feature of my invention also lies in the removable crank-pin J, equipped with a ball-bearing journal-box, as shown. The advantage of this feature of the construction is evident when the matter of cleaning, assembling, and adjusting the parts is considered.

Various changes in the construction may be made without departing from the spirit of my invention, as defined by the claims, and I desire to be understood as in no sense limiting myself to the particular details of construction given above, except as shall appear from the appended claims.

That I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a velocipede, the combination with the frame and a threaded drive-wheel shaft, of a ball-bearing interposed between said frame and shaft, a closed housing provided at its inner side with a shaft-opening and at its outer side with a gear-hub opening, a pinion within the housing rigidly attached to said shaft, ball-bearings between the housing and shaft, a gear meshing with the pinion and antifrictionally journaled in the housing, a rod rigidly joined to the outer side of said gear at said hub-opening, and means for reciprocating the rod, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. In a velocipede, the combination with v the frame and a threaded drive-Wheel shaft, of a ball -bearing interposed between said frame and shaft, a housing, a housing-cone fitted in the inner shaft-opening of said housing, a bearing'cone on the shaft cooperating with said inner housing-cone, an outer housing-cone fitting a recess 'in the inner surface of the opposite side of the housing, a bearingeone on the end of the shaft cooperating with said housing-cone, a pinion fixedly secured to the shaft within said housing, a gear-wheel mounted in ball-bearings at opposite sides in said housing and engaging the pinion, and an operating-rod-fixedly secured to said gearwheel, all substantially as set forth.

3. In a velocipede, the combination with the frame and a threaded drive-wheel shaft, of a bearing interposed between said frame and shaft and comprising arace membercarried by the frame and bearing-cones on said shaft, a housing, a flanged bearing-cone fitted in the shaft-opening of said housing, a bearing-cone on the shaft cooperating with the flanged cone, a bearing-cone fitting a recess in the opposite side of the housing, a bearingcone on the end of the shaft cooperating with said housing-cone, a pinion fixedly secured to the shaft within said housing, a gear-wheel IIS mounted in ball-bearings at opposite sides in said crank-arm and provided With bearingsaidhousingand engagingthepinion,acranb cones coeperating with said sleeve, all subshaft journaled in the frame and provided stantially as set forth.

with a crank-arm, a pedal-arm removably JESSE W. SUNDERLAND. secured to said crank-arm and carrying a In .presence of bearing-sleeve, and a connecting-rod fixedly RICHARD SPENCER,

secured to the gear-Wheel and journaled on 1 J. H. LEE. 

